Renault has officially confirmed Kevin Magnussen will line up alongside Jolyon Palmer for its return to Formula 1 as a full constructor entry.

The former McLaren driver had been linked with a last minute return to F1 in place of Pastor Maldonado after it emerged the Venezuelan's primary sponsor – the state-funded PDVSA oil company – had reneged on financial terms agreed upon when he was first confirmed with the erstwhile Lotus team in September 2015.

Indeed, following its takeover of the Enstone-based squad over the winter, Renault had originally planned to honour the original agreements with Maldonado - who was set to be retained for a third season - and Palmer, who had been promoted from his previous reserve role.

However, with Maldonado's sponsors unable to meet demands, Renault took the opportunity to open negotiations with Magnussen, the Dane delighted to have secured an unexpectedly last minute opportunity after a year on the sidelines..

The deal marks a return to F1 action for Magnussen after he was forced to take a sabbatical in the wake of McLaren's decision to replace him in its team with Fernando Alonso at the end of 2014.

The 2013 Formula Renault 3.5 champion made his F1 debut in 2014 with McLaren – scoring a podium in his maiden race -, but after being demoted to a reserve role in 2015, he parted ways with the team altogether in October when it became clear a return to a race seat wasn't forthcoming.

He will be paired with Palmer, the 2014 GP2 Series champion promoted to a race seat after spending a year in a reserve role at Lotus. Esteban Ocon becomes reserve driver.

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